Beyond Our Borders

Margaret O'Brien Steinfels April 6, 2013 - 11:02am

Is North Korea tutoring Iran? One of the curiosities of the media hysteria over North Korea moving its military toys around is what it might be teaching the Iranians about the value of having a nuclear weapon or two even if you might not be able to deliver them.North Korea is a country on the brink of falling apart while its people starve. The media is galvanized by every incomprehensible word that falls from its leader's mouth and publishes pictures of battle plans that would shame Civil War re-enacters. Yet there is little chance that any government, including the U.S. or China, is going to do anything other than Tsk! Tsk! There are many reasons, of course, but one of them is that North Korea actually has nuclear weapons and nuclear capability. It has a deterrent. And, if necessary, it has a close target, Seoul, South Korea.Will Iran conclude that when a country has a nuclear deterrent, the rest of the world will leave you alone--militarily speaking?I wonder.